4 convicted for duping 4,000 cops, soldiers of P3 billion

After 16 years of trial, the Quezon City regional trial court found officers and members of a syndicate guilty beyond reasonable doubt for duping almost 4,000 policemen and soldiers of over P3 billion in investment.

Found guilty by the QCRTC Branch 220 were Emilia Sison, Ireneo Sison Jr., Mirasol Aguilar and Marilo Cabalo of 23 counts of estafa and were sentenced to be imprisoned for six years to 16 years for each count.

Also, the RTC found the principal accused Emilia Sison guilty in a separate case for violation of Republic Act No. 8799 (Securities Regulation Act), sentencing her to another prison term of 10 years.

Records showed the convicts through the ICS Export Inc., collected almost P3 billion from 4,000 victims, mostly officers of the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the early 2000s.

They were accused of luring their victims with promises of eight to 15 percent return on their money for a minimum investment of P50,000.

As a guarantee, the company issued post-dated checks in the form of a monthly interest to each stakeholder. But the complainants said all the checks that the company released bounced.

“The strategy used by the accused using the corporation was akin to the so-called Ponzi scheme,” the court bared.

“This is a story of people wanting quick wealth on one side, and people robbing off that wealth, on the other side,” the RTC pointed out.